


1000 Miles Away

by bellacatbee



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Castiel, Alien Character(s), Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Romance, Alien/Human Relationships, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Captain Dean Winchester, Christmas Fluff, Dean/Cas Secret Santa, Hangover, M/M, Outer Space, Spaceships, True Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 13:19:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3121661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellacatbee/pseuds/bellacatbee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starship Captain Dean Winchester faces his first Christmas off world, away from his mother and his brother. Castiel, his alien second-in-command, doesn't understand Christmas, but would do anything to help Dean feel less lonely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1000 Miles Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MizGoat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizGoat/gifts).



> Based on this prompt: sci-fi AU where Cas tries to cheer Dean up on his first Christmas off world.
> 
> I originally planned to write something based on Stargate, but the lure of Star Trek was just too much. Sorry for mangling Vulcan biology with the Angels, but the desire to make Dean and Cas mates was too much. 
> 
> Thank you so much to possibly-an-obsession on tumblr for beta reading.

_It was Christmas morning._

_Dean knew it was. He felt it, a certainty that couldn’t be denied. He felt it with every bone in his body, with the inherent knowledge that his seven year old self possessed. In the same way that he knew the moment he woke up that it was his birthday or the first day of summer, or a snow day, he knew now that it was Christmas morning._

_He threw back the covers - dinosaur ones - and threw himself out of bed. The wooden floor beneath his feet was cold and for a moment Dean performed a little dance on his bedroom floor, trying to keep only the tips of his toes on the cold wood, gasping each time the rest of his foot connected._

_The floor was so cold that for a moment he considered getting back into bed, but the tantalising promise of a Christmas tree downstairs and presents underneath it from Santa was more enticing that the warmth of his bed._

_He skipped down the stairs, hardly feeling the cold any longer and came to the living room door. He grasped the handle - also cold - and pushed it open._

_The tree was just as he remembered it, branches landened with baubles, the little star stickling on top, wrapped up in bright multi colored lights. It wasn’t the most expertly decorated Christmas tree, but Dean still thought it was beautiful. He had helped his mother hang those baubles. She had lifted his baby brother Sam up to help him set the star on top. It had been a fixture of their living room since the first week of December and it made Dean smile each time he saw it._

_When he’d gone to bed last night, the space beneath it had been bare, but now there were presents there. Dean stared in awe at their bright wrapping paper, the slightly wonky bows. There seemed to be so many presents, more than he’d hoped for. Some of them would be from Santa, he knew that, but there’d be others too from his mom and Uncle Bobby and Aunt Ellen. It was a Christmas horde._

_Dean fell to his knees greedily, searching through the pile of presents to find the gifts with his name on the tag._

_He heard the door open behind him, but he didn’t turn to look. He was too engrossed in his search._

_“Oh, I see you’re up already,” his mom said. Dean could hear the pleasure in her voice. “I suppose I should go and wake Sam. I can’t make you wait to open your presents, can I?”_

_He grabbed hold of the biggest one, turning to face her with it hugged to his chest._

_“Sam can sleep later! Please, please can I open this one now?” he asked.  
Mary Winchester was a beautiful woman. Her hair was like spun gold, her smile rich and rewarding. Even wearing an old dressing gown and clearly having just gotten out of bed, she was beautiful. _

_“I suppose I can,” she said, laughing. “Don’t open those until I get back with Sam.”_

_She turned and Dean heard her footsteps on the stairs as she headed up to his little brother’s room. He dug back into the pile of presents, sorting them neatly into a group for him, a group for Sam and the presents that had been left for his mom. Her pile was smaller and Dean nudged a few of his into her pile so she wouldn’t feel so bad._

_“Dean,” he heard his mother’s voice calling. “Dean.”_

_There was something alien about it, something not quite right. Dean knew how this was supposed to go. His mother was supposed to bring Sam downstairs, make them hot chocolate with marshmallows in and help them open their presents. Dean was going to get an imitation blaster gun. He’d have it until he was thirteen when he’d break it by accident, but by then he’d have moved on to bigger and better toys and a few years after that he’d have a real gun, one given to him by the academy._

_“Dean,” his mother called again, more insistent this time._

_The world around him had lost it’s feeling of reality. The Christmas tree that had a moment before seemed so twinkly and bright seemed to dim. The presents no longer looked like a haul of glittering treasures, but a small shabby collection of cheap novelties._

“Captain,” snapped a voice that most certainly did not belong to his mother.

Dean opened his eyes.

He was in his quarters. It was Christmas Eve. He was thirty-six years old, travelling halfway across the galaxy on a three year mission into uncharted territory. His mother and brother were back home on Earth, a place Dean wouldn’t be seeing again for a long time. 

He was Captain of a Starship and the person standing over him, staring down at him with unblinking bright blue eyes was his second in command, Castiel. 

Anyone looking at Castiel might take him for human until they saw those eyes. The glowed with an unnatural intensity and right now they were too bright for Dean to look at. 

“Did I over-sleep?” he asked groggily, sitting up slowly.

His head was pounding.

“Doctor Milligan advised me to check on you. He said, and I quote, ‘Dean was drinking like a fish last night. You should check to make sure he hasn’t choked on his own tongue in his sleep, or don’t. You could have a new commission.’ I assume he was being flippant about the commission should you have died in your sleep.” 

Dean groaned, cradling his head in his hands. 

He didn’t need Castiel’s hyper-literal conversation this morning, especially not if it came with a second hand lecture from their grumpy Doctor about Dean’s drinking habits.

The night before rushed back to him in all it’s technicolour glory. A video message home to his mom and Sam, the deep pit of loneliness that had opened up inside him as he’d seen his childhood home and twinkly lights of the Christmas Tree. The horrible realisation that there would be no Christmas for him this year, or for the next two years while his mission continued. The moment the message had ended, Dean had gone straight down to the canteen and got blindingly drunk. 

“Doctor Milligan advised you take these tablets with water. He said it would help cure your hangover,” Castiel continued, seemingly oblivious to Dean’s discomfort. “Although he told me he would prefer you suffered, but understands that’s not practical as you are our Captain.” 

“Has anyone ever told Adam he’s lucky I can’t bring him up on charges of insubordination?” Dean groaned.

“I believe he’s very aware of the fact. He makes a point to remind everyone that he is a Doctor and not under your command.” 

“I hate him,” Dean muttered.

“I believe the feeling is reciprocated,” Castiel said. Dean didn’t look up, but he heard him shuffling about the room, heading into Dean’s personal bathroom to turn on the taps and fill a glass of water. Castiel returned after a few seconds, continuing with his conversation as if he’d never left. “Although I believe your animosity springs from the fact that you are so similar and that what you believe to be hate is, in fact, simply antagonism as you set boundaries. I do believe you will come to enjoy each other’s company once you find a mutual enemy.”

“You talk too much,” Dean said.

“Please drink your water and take your pills,” Castiel said, not phased in the least by Dean’s grumpiness. 

Dean lifted his head from his hands, accepted the glass of water passed across to him and the little pink pills which he swallowed after a moment’s hesitation. Adam might be antagonistic, as Castiel called him, but he was a good doctor. Whatever he’d given Dean would help.

“Is there a reason you were drinking so heavily last night?” Castiel asked.

“Nothing,” Dean said mechanically. “It’s just... that time of the year and all.”

A small frown appeared on Castiel’s face. 

“I was not aware that human males suffered from any issues of that sort,” he said. 

Dean was glad he hadn’t chosen that moment to take a sip of his water because he likely would have choked on it.

“What? Oh god, Cas, not that. It’s Christmas. It’s just... it’s a big celebration, lots of family and friends around and I’m stuck up here in this floating tin-can. You have big feasts and things back on your home world, don’t you? I bet you get a bit bent out of shape when you miss them too.”

“I have never really enjoyed feasts,” Castiel said quietly. “They are a time for those with mates and families and I have always been a disappointment in that field.”

The way he stated it, so bluntly and without any attempt to explain or cushion what he was about to say, left Dean speechless. He had no idea what to say- if Castiel wanted cheering up or if he’d prefer Dean didn’t mention it again. Dean certainly didn’t want to talk about why Cas had just never met the right mate. 

Having an Angel for a second in command was always going to be hard- they were literal, blunt, completely oblivious to nuance and irony- but Dean had found it even harder than he’d expected. He and Castiel weren’t friends, they hardly knew each other, but sometimes Castiel spoke to him as if they were. He said things that left Dean feeling that Castiel regarded their tepid, office appropriate relationship as a much more serious bond. 

“I... well... okay, right,” he said, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken. 

“I’ll leave you to get dressed,” Castiel said. “I hope you feel better soon.”

**

Castiel left the Captain’s room in a contemplative mood. Since he had first been introduced to Dean he had left a pull between them, a bond more profound than anything else he had ever experienced before. He had known in that moment that Deas was his mate, the other half of his heart. It was unusual , but not unheard of, for Angels to find their mates outside their own species. Castiel had always been considered unusual. Finding Dean had been a relief to him, a sign that however much an outcast he felt among his own kind, there would be someone who would understand him. 

He was not sure Dean experienced the same bond that he did, but that wasn’t unexpected. They were of a different species after all. Castiel had studied earth customs intensely and he understood that Humans did not feel the same emotional bind that Angels did. When two compatible Angels met, they both felt the pull immediately. It deepened to an almost telepathic understanding, a closeness that could only be called a twinning of souls. Castiel had no idea how such a bond developed between an Angel and someone of another species, there were too few couples and too many variables for any accurate data to be complied, but he hoped that once he revealed his feelings to Dean, Dean would begin to experience what Castiel did.

Of course, that meant that he had to consider revealing his feelings to Dean and so far Castiel had not been able to do that. He would have felt hesitant in any circumstances, but the ones he found himself in were not fortuitous. Dean was his superior officer, his captain. There were rules and regulations to be considered. 

Although many couples met and started their relationships onboard ship, it was still frowned upon for a high ranking officer to make overtures towards anyone who ranked beneath him or her. There was no one on the ship with a higher ranking than Dean and Castiel was always conscious that his feelings for his captain could reflect badly back on Dean once they returned to Earth. He did not want to be responsible for any damage done to Dean’s career. 

Dean was a good leader and a good man. Castiel did not want to hold him back, even if it meant suffering the pangs of an unrequited bond. He was adept enough in controlling himself to be able to live with the pain. 

His feet took him along the well trodden path to the bridge. With Dean recovering from his binge, Castiel assumed command. There was very little actual work to be done. Everyone in the team was highly skilled and well organized. They ran efficiently and Castiel arrived merely to oversee them. Their mission had not yet faced any of the difficulties of previous missions, but Castiel was aware that out in space they were not the only craft flying. It was a precaution, having him there. 

His thoughts drifted back to the difficulty of telling Dean about his feelings. Even if there had not been regulations to follow, Castiel still would have found it difficult to discuss his feelings with Dean. Angels mated for life. Their bonds, once formed, did not break. For Angels, this was fine, they grew up expecting such a bond and welcomed it when it arrived, but it was a heavy weight to lay at the door of a human. Castiel did not want Dean to feel pressured or to agree to a relationship out of concern for Castiel. Unfulfilled and unrequited bonds hurt, but their pain was emotional and Castiel could live with the strain of it rather than forcing Dean into an unwanted relationship. Castiel never wanted to hurt Dean, and being bonded together because of Dean’s sense of duty rather than out of love, would have been much more painful than any unrequited bond could be. 

He avoided the Captain’s chair. Even when Dean was not available, it felt like an imposition to assume such a symbol of power for himself. Castiel still found himself deferring to Dean even when the man was absent. 

Instead, he walked down to where communications officer Charlie Bradbury was sitting with three screens open in front of her. Two, Castiel noted, were displaying information relevant to their mission. The third was showing her updates from a social media page. 

“Are you allowed to access that on a work computer?” Castiel asked.

“Dean doesn’t mind,” Charlie said airily. 

“Oh,” Castiel said.

He stood there for a little while longer, watching Charlie’s fingers as they raced across her keyboard, updating mission control about their progress then updating her status to read that Castiel was hovering behind her like an over-attentive butterfly. 

“Do you need anything?” Charlie asked. “I know it doesn’t look like I’m doing much, but I am pretty busy.”

“I... I was wondering if you could tell me about Christmas,” Castiel said after a moment’s pause. “I believe you have the most knowledge out of anyone on this ship and that you would be able to find illustrative guides. I do know about Christmas, but not in depth and it is something Dean appears to feel strongly about.”

Charlie spun her chair around to face him, a wide grin on her face.

“You want to know about Christmas? That I can help with.” 

“Thank you,” Castiel said.

“Anything to help you and Dean get together. I’ve got a bet going with Adam and I am going to win that thing,” Charlie said.

Castiel stared at her, floored. He had had been under the impression that he was the only one who knew about his feelings for Dean, that he had been able to control his emotions to such an extent that they were unreadable to those around him. Finding out that Charlie and Doctor Milligan had been discussing him, that they even had a bet going, was not what he wanted to hear. 

Charlie noticed his shock and laughed.

“Seriously? We’re all stuck in a floating tin can together for the next three years. Office gossip is what keeps us all from going mad and Adam has a pretty impressive knowledge of Angel mating habits while I just happen to know all about forbidden passion. There’s a nurse in his office and she is just... have you seen the girls from the fairy nebula? Swoon.” 

Castiel felt that Charlie had to be talking in code. He understood something of what she was saying, but the rest of it was confusing.

“Does Dean know?” he asked quietly.

“Dean is as oblivious as a rock. He hasn’t even worked out that he has feelings for you yet, but I can see it in the way he looks at you. He was checking you out from day one.” 

Castiel felt heat rise in his cheeks. He was embarrassed to hear Charlie talking that way, but the sensation was not wholly unpleasant. It was even pleasing to know that Dean found him aesthetically appealing. 

“So you can help me then?” he asked. “I would like to make a Christmas for Dean, one to help him adjust to being so far away from his family.” 

“I can help you,” Charlie agreed. “Just tell me the second you guys get together. I’ve got that bet after all.”

“What exactly are the terms of this bet?” Castiel asked, curious.

“Oh, I say you and Dean are gonna get together before the end of the mission. Adam says you’ll get together by the 1st of never. He thinks you’re both too stubborn to make the first move while you’re still working together.” 

Castiel nodded thoughtfully. That wasn’t entirely incorrect. Only a few short moments ago he had been telling himself not to reveal his feelings to Dean while Dean was his commanding officer. It seemed that his actions in that respect had not gone unnoticed. Although, logically, it made perfect sense not to put either himself or Dean in a compromising situation, Castiel found himself wishing to prove Doctor Milligan wong. 

“Are there any romantic Christmas traditions?” He asked. “I would like to learn about those first.” 

***

The message Dean received on his communicator wasn’t anything to worry about. It was a simple message asking Dean to come to Castiel’s quarters when he had time. There were hundreds of reasons Castiel might have wanted to see him and most of them were entirely mundane, but Dean still found himself rushing through the labyrinth of corridors, heading towards his second in commands’ rooms. 

He just wanted to be sure, he told himself, that Castiel was okay. After all, Castiel had taken care of him that morning when Dean had been hungover. He was just repaying the favor by checking on Castiel now. 

He reached Castiel’s quarters in a matter of minutes and pressed the buzzer. If Castiel was sick, he’d be able to operate it from bed and if he’d passed out then Dean knew the override codes for every room on the ship. Of course, he hoped that if Castiel was sick he would have taken himself to the infirmary rather than sending Dean a breezy message, but Angels were odd and Castiel was odder than most. 

The door to Castiel’s room slid open.

For a moment Dean didn’t move. He couldn’t move. All he could do was stare at the strange sight that met his eyes, completely confused by it.

Castiel was an Angel. As far as Dean was aware, they didn’t celebrate Christmas. Yet there was quite clearly a Christmas tree up in Castiel’s quarters.

“It’s only a hologram,” Castiel said, making Dean jump. He hadn’t even noticed Castiel sitting there. He’d been too focused on the tree. “A real one would be impractical on a spaceship, but Charlie found me a number of Christmas holographic projections.”

Dean nodded. Charlie would be the one to find them. Charlie knew everything there was to know about what was stored in the ships memory banks.

“And why did you want a Christmas tree?” he asked, stepping into the room and letting the door slide shut behind him. “I mean, you guys don’t celebrate Christmas, right?”

“No, we don’t, but I wanted one for you. I know that you’re missing home and I wanted to try to recreate a little bit of it for you,” Castiel said.

For a moment, Dean could have sworn that Castiel was nervous. There were no outward signs, no tells that Dean had picked up on, but even so he thought Castiel was nervous.

“That’s... that’s really great, Cas,” he said gruffly. 

He hadn’t meant to tell Castiel that he was homesick. He certainly hadn’t been looking for pity this morning, he’d just been hungover and Castiel had been there. It was a nice idea of Castiel’s, trying to recreate Christmas for him, but Dean didn’t like knowing that Castiel had talked to Charlie about this. He didn’t like anyone knowing about things that were personal. 

“You don’t like it?” Castiel asked. 

Once again, Dean got the feeling that Castiel was worried. He wanted this to work out, wanted Dean to be happy with it. 

“No, no, I do. It’s just... why? I know you said you wanted me to have a little slice of home, but why?”

Castiel wouldn’t meet his eye. He looked down at his hands, folded in his lap.

“Because you’re important to me,” he said eventually. “I do not like to see you sad. You... your happiness means a great deal to me. When you’re happy, I’m happy too. You are essential to me.”

Dean drew in a deep breath.

“Fuck,” he said, his voice low. “Cas, that sounds a lot like…”

“A mating bond. Yes, I know. I’ve know you were my mate since the first time we were introduced, but I didn’t want to say anything. We’re working together and that makes things difficult. I also didn’t want to pressure you. Humans don’t have mating bonds, I know, and nothing suggests you are interested in monogamy.” 

“Fuck,” Dean said again. There didn’t be much else to say.

His second in command was in love with him. It wasn’t some sort of crush. Dean knew enough about Angels to know that mating bonds were serious commitments. Castiel wouldn’t ever get over this. He’d always feel himself drawn to Dean, it was part of his biology. 

“I’m sorry,” Castiel said. 

“Nothing to be sorry about, you can’t help it,” Dean said. 

His mind was still reeling. Castiel had done this for him because of love. He had studied Earth customs, gone to Charlie and tried to recreate Christmas because he wanted Dean to be happy. Dean couldn’t remember the last time anyone had cared so much about him.

He looked around the room, taking in the details of the holographic tree, the presents underneath which weren’t real but looked it, and even the decorations that had been tastefully hung (or directed to make it look like they were hanging) from the ceiling. 

One in particular caught his eye.

“Is that mistletoe?” he asked. 

“Charlie thought it would be a good idea. She told me about the old tradition,” Castiel said miserably.

Dean had a second to think. The choice he made now determined his future and his relationship with Castiel. He hadn’t been monogamous before, but that had been down to his lifestyle. He’d been advancing through the ranks, readying to make Captain at a young age. He’d always been the one to volunteer for dangerous missions, the one who could disappear at the drop of a hat. It would have been wrong to drag someone else into that life, to leave them at home wondering if Dean would ever return.

That wasn’t the case now. He’d made Captain. He was on a three year voyage and Castiel was there by his side. There was no chance that Castiel would be left behind while Dean went on a dangerous mission. He already knew Castiel well enough to know that Castiel would be right there with him. They were a good team, a great team and the mating bond could only strengthen that.

“Well, far be it for me to ignore a tradition,” he said. 

Castiel looked up at him, his eyes wide, but there was hope there and anticipation, excitement. Dean could feel all those things as he cupped Castiel’s face in his hands and kissed him softly. 

There might be repercussions for this. There’d be those back at headquarters who wouldn’t like it, but Dean had paid his dues. He was Captain and if he wanted to accept Castiel’s mating bond, wanted to fall in love with the Angel, then there was nothing anyone could do to stop him. Dean had been lonely. He’d viewed the next three years as something to be endured, but he didn’t feel that way any more. He had Castiel. 

He wouldn’t be lonely and neither would Castiel. They had each other. They fit together and that was all that mattered.

Castiel broke the kiss. He was breathing heavily, his blue eyes unnaturally bright.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“I’m taking a leap of faith,” Dean said. “I’m not sure, okay. I don’t feel things the way you do, but I want to give this a go. I don’t want to spend the rest of this mission avoiding you, or the rest of my life regretting what might have been. We’re good together, Cas. I think this could work.”

“I know it will work,” Castiel said. 

The confidence radiating from him washed over Dean. It was reassuring, grounding. It made Dean believe. 

“You know, I’m going to keep kissing you as long as the mistletoe’s there,” he murmured, stroking his fingers across Castiel’s cheek.

“Good thing it’s a hologram then,” Castiel said. “I won’t have to worry about it wilting.”


End file.
